defiling the lv

[porten1134]

yup the roof was done in the corners...at least done to the point that i'd be making brand new ones to patch in. there just wasn't enough left to weld anything to. as far as did i know what i was geting into......well yes and no.i knew i'd have to go through everything, repair, patch, etc. i had a pretty good idea of the overall condition. i didn't really have an end game at the time of purchase however...nor had i tried to anything like this before. so i guess i cant say i knew what i was getting myself into.

i did attach the uprights to the pillars at the top, but i didn't try to match the contour of the inside. the.....endoskeleton we'll call it will serve some function. also it gives me a place to mount the biggest sunroof i've ever seen. i was catting around the junkyard and saw a mazda van with a huge sunroof; fully retractable, complete with harness, sunshade attached. it ended up costing double the posted price 'cuz the nickle & dimed me for wires, controls, glass. bah!.

the whole assembly is about 6' tall and 3' wide or so. it takes up a lot of space in the roof. i ended up moving one of the few cross braces back about 2' from the c pillar, so it was more or less centered over the back windows. i ran a few pieces front to back where the sides of the sunroof needed to mount to. and two more back to the rear cross brace. i made little arches to tie the posts to the outside edge of the lengthwise peices. i'm in the process of welding up tabs to the inside. then weld a bolt to the tabs. the sunroof was designed to bolt to the bottom of the roof. the ides is to make some posts, throw some nuts on it and wedge it against the bottom of the roof sheet metal. there are complications though...

the top flange of the sunroof(the part will wedge up to the bottom of the roof) while basicly pterry straight and level has a few spots that drop or raise 1/4" or so. i got a seamer tool the other day. i'm hoping i can get the whole thing even. then replace the weatherstripping on the whole thing. there are 4 tube i gotta run to drain it....which leads me to another problem.

up till this point i hadn't put much thought to running wires, tubes, things like this. i'd like to conceal them as much as possible. i was thinking i could use the endo skeleton as a conduit. i used to be an electrician back in the day. i'm pretty sure i could weasle the wires through. but i'd have to do it before i got the roof on. i'd end up drilling and slotting the tubing here and there.
i'd have to make sure the stuff didn't get damaged while it was hanging out. whadda guys think?

being a rookie, the endoskeleton gave me a framework to build the roof, hold the sunroof up, maybe hide some stuff. and yeah, i think it looks cool.

 

[friel01]

sunroof

I think that sunroof is frickin sweet!!!!! Its huge! Can't wait to see pics of it in position.

 

[LC_Hamma]

I guess I missed where you said you were adding a sunroof. Were you planning that all along?I think it's a terriffic Now I can see why you've braced for the structure, if indeed, that was the original plan. That's gonna look way

 

[porten1134]

ahh tes the sunrooft! the thing is huge...huge i tell ya. i used a bunch of leftovers to make brackets. then i made a trip and bought 14 metric bolts. i drilled holes in the breckets, then pushed the bolt through from the top down. i zapped the head of the bolt but i wanted it all to be flush. so real careful like i just barely kissed the bolt with the welder on the bottom of the bracket. after that i crossed my fingers and cut the head off with a cutoff wheel. nothing fell out, i was pleased. i did go over the bolt again with the welder at the top of the bracket. melting the bolt and bracket together, then cleaned it up with a grinder.

my brother-in-law Shane helped my wrestle the thing in place 3 or 4 times while i measured and marked. i even conned him into helping me hold it in place while i banged on the brackets. we both managed to get it in though, and it looks pretty good!

the sunroof needed some tubes ran for drainage. i guess the sunroof isn't sealed like a window. it justs drains well. there are 4 nipples, one on each corner. i drilled a few holes and ran some tubing through the endoskeleton,and down the back pillar. i think it'll turn out nice. i also decided to use my endoskeleton for something else....mounts for the tire carrier!

 

[Combat Chuck]

This whole build is my kind of crazy.
Subscribed.

 

[peterman]

That is friggin' sweet! I'm talking the saw zaw to my roof tomorrow...no, not really, but it would be cool...

 

[Combat Chuck]

And this, my friends, is how a legend dies...

Good luck on your build.

You know, I've seen a good few LV builds, and really there are only two directions to take them, you can either scrape around for stock hardware, and exactingly cannibalize three rigs to get one really nice, clean, beautiful rig.
OR
You can use whatever you can get to rebuild it as best as possible, and infuse your own crazy ideas into it, all the while honoring the original concept as best as you can.

Porten, I admire just what you're doing to clean this sad derelict up, and I appreciate that you're using what you can, instead of crapping out bricks over anachronisms, and wrong weld-patters for the model. Keep it up!



I did, however, neglect to mention another path, the one where someone who has no idea what they've got slaps a hacked-up hulk onto a blazer frame, or crams some heep guts into the poor beasty, and makes the whole thing a joke of what it once was, but they seem to weed themselves out.

 

[MOTOV8R]

that is sweet, keep at it.

 

[fogblanket]

having spent 4 years and counting restoring/ modifing an lv and spending way to much money in the process I can fully appreciate how you are going about doing this one. I mean I spent $2500 on a whole new floor pan from the pilgram group and while the steel and craftsmanship is amazing and the truck is like factory original on the floors its all covered up by sound proofing and a floor mat over that. i mean no one is ever going to see them ever!!! I am glad I did mine the way I did but seeing this makes me wonder if I could have shaved off some cost and time .
I like your sun roof i thought about putting in one of those full length rag tops but decided since mine was going to be running a roof rack most of the time it would not have been worth it.
the only thing that you have to keep is the way sweet pin striping and whatever this is that is circled in the pic below it has to stay
Jason

 

[friel01]

bus windows

I not onlylike the sunroof, but think the structure fo the rest of your roof frame is just screaming for some of those little windows like the old old vw buses used to have... (sorry, couldnt find a picture to upload).

 

[a.greenspan]

..., but think the structure fo the rest of your roof frame is just screaming for some of those little windows like the old old vw buses used to have... (sorry, couldnt find a picture to upload).

Only the so called VW "Samba Bus " had this little roof windows
( nice buses / originals are rare & since some years they are very, very...... expensive)
enjoy

Cheers
Peter

 

[a.greenspan]

one more, a vintage VW Samba Bus pic

 

[Combat Chuck]

the samba bus windows would really rock on this rig!

 

[porten1134]

thanks for the positive feedback! yeah the little windows sold look cool. i ended up changing the roofline anyway, more than i had intended at least. it should look something close.....we'll see. I'm still working up the stones to attack that part. I doubt anyone but a 'mudder or a hardcore will know what is anyway. when i show folks the pictures they ask if its a willies, a woodie, a nomad, whatever. still i want to stay as close to lv looking as possible. still, if you can fire in some fun stuff in the process i say go for it.

i gotta say i got a lot of respect for the purists. hardcore i tell ya. i can appreciate tricked out cars, folk put a ton of work into those too. but the hardcore restorers.....there is some folks with some patience, some craft.gotta respect that! still im not one of those guys. i fancy myself as one of those fellas who is somewhat mechanicly inclined and too creative for my own good. I'm also one of those guys that have a 2 car garage full up with car pieces, and a wife who wants it finished, and a H O A who for some reason objects to torn up cars in the driveway and lawn. i'm also one of those guys who has kids and loans and stuff , and that somehow consumes most of the money. i bet a lot of you find yourself in the same position.


i just have a tidbit for progress. tire carrier. I just think the swing out tire carrier looks cool.still i'll be dammed if i'm gonna one of those fella driving around with a shiny shovel and brand new hi-lift strapped on in the city.......you've seen em! you know.busters

anyway i sliced and diced through the sheetmetal as close to the tailgate opening as possible.i was trying yo leave the tail lights as exposed as possible. the endo-skeleton was wider then where i wanted to end up. i cut the holes so the stock went in at an angle. measuring was tough...i shimmed stuff so it was level. it gave me some kinda refrence. i wont lie, it wasn't a one cut kinda operation. lots of tuning and one spot i cut a teeny bit to big.

after the arms were mounted, i welded on the verts. made sure they were level and square, and pretty much left it at that so far. i dont have enough room to finish the hinge mounts and stuff, i wont be able to open it in my garage.

 

[a.greenspan]

Some of the Land Rover also had a small roof window.
Was a special equipment you could /can order till today I think. Some of the Land Rover are equipped with a very interesting roof construction an air venting roof, see pic. This special roof is the so called tropical roof.
( More information how this roof works please visite a Land Rover forum )
enjoy

Cheers
Peter

 

[Combat Chuck]

I've heard of those! really a neat idea, using convection to "pull" the hot air out of the roof line. I love those old Rovers, even though they're a maintenance nightmare and a half, but they're just to cool to look at.

Some of the Land Rover also had a small roof window.
Was a special equipment you could /can order till today I think. Some of the Land Rover are equipped with a very interesting roof construction an air venting roof, see pic. This special roof is the so called tropical roof.
( More information how this roof works please visite a Land Rover forum )
enjoy

Cheers
Peter

 

[a.greenspan]

I've heard of those! really a neat idea, using convection to "pull" the hot air out of the roof line. I love those old Rovers, even though they're a maintenance nightmare and a half, but they're just to cool to look at.

Yes they are nice. English cars always need a bit more attention ,
good if you can do it by your own, but the part situation on vintage english cars is very good and the best,the Land Rover have an aluminium body - no rust- or only rust at the frame and at the points where aluminium is fixed on steel, easy to eliminate this contact corrosion.
Cheers
Peter

 

[mderrick]

Cruiser garage sale if you are interested...

 

[porten1134]

i still did'n have the guts to attack the roof yet. sometime this week i'm thinking.i did prep all the sneaky hidden spots with KBS. i also painted up some other parts i gotta get in. while i was at it i yanked all my drivetrain goodies out.

the drivetrain has been a year in the making. it just took that long to decide what to use, make sure they would all fit, and then get parts. there could have been substitutions but i stuck it out and got what i wanted. the tranny is nothing special, a sm465. it was calling to me in the junkyard. pretty easy to get.

my man RT has a doubler setup on his 4 runner.cant help but to say i always thought it was cool. the boy put a lot of work into the thing.any ways i found an Advanced Adapter setup for about $500 to couple to a np203. Marlins website had a setup for a million bucks or something, but apparently weren't in production. i decided to try the np203 route. i searched the papers and found a 203 and a 205 for $100. i figured i could make a doubler work out of those if nothing else.danm things are heavy too!

the part that i had the most trouble with was getting a coupling and input gear to mate the np203 to the sm465. i guess the good folks at GM thought one year of pairing these two together was enough. 1974 was apparently the golden year. it took about 6 months of catting oround the internet till i found a place calld 4X heaven. they had a input gear, and about $100 later i had it. the coupling if a beefy cast iron thing designed to have a crossmember under it. i finally found one for about $100.



i sent away for gaskets and adapters, and it was like christmas to see 'em at the door. the stuff has been sitting around greasy, dirty, in boxes. i got everything out of hiding, then set about cleaning the greasy stuff. i had to use a screwdriver as a chisel to get out some areas. foul i tell ya, but before too long i found myself prepping the drivetrain for some KBS.finally i just got kinda fired up and stuck it together and painted it.

there wasn't much to the adapter/coupling thing, or the doubler. some snap ring plier thing-things help a lot i tella ya.i didn't really have to re-locate much to change gears or shafts.fairly easy after all. i didn't have to drill,tap,weld, or ever get too toughguy with stuff to get it to fit it all together. the best part it all works. now i gotta figure out some shifter linkage.

 

[porten1134]

some more pictures....and yup. it is a aluminum 'cruiser transfercase. it was so grimy and greazy i couldn't tell untill i started cleaning it. hope i dont snap the poor thing.